Germany’s largest shipbuilder, Bremer Vulkan Verbund AG, initiated bankruptcy proceedings after its creditor banks rejected proposals for restructuring the company’s debt. When Bremer Vulkan announced early in the year that it had sustained some $650 million in losses, its executives acknowledged that the state funds the company had received in the early 1990s had been misused. The company’s collapse was expected to be most keenly felt in the port cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven.

may 3

Land mines restricted

During a conference at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, delegates from around the world debated the use of land mines but did not concur that all land mines should be eliminated immediately. While there was wide agreement that land mines were uncontrollable and inhumane, some insisted that they were still necessary for defense until new technology provided an acceptable alternative. China, India, Russia, and the U.S. were among the nations unwilling to endorse an immediate ban on all land mines.

may 6

Report on Guatemala

The U.S. State Department made public some of its official documents on human rights abuses allegedly perpetrated by the Guatemalan military. A spokesman for the State Department used the occasion to declare that U.S. government officials in Guatemala had had "no reason not to believe" Sister Dianna Ortiz when she reported that she had been kidnapped, raped, and tortured by Guatemalan security forces in 1989. Ortiz had gone on a hunger strike to compel the government to review her case and make public its findings. The newly released documents revealed that the U.S. ambassador had cabled Washington, D.C., at the time to say that he believed that Sister Ortiz’s story was a hoax concocted to persuade the U.S. to cut off aid to Guatemala.

may 7

Sex offenders identified

The U.S. House of Representatives supported (418-0) an amendment to a 1994 federal anticrime bill requiring state officials to notify communities when a convicted sex offender had moved into their area. Two days later the Senate approved the measure by voice vote. On May 17 President Clinton signed the bill into law. Virtually all states had already enacted legislation obliging authorities to keep track of paroled sex offenders, but few laws stipulated that the public was to be notified where such criminals were living.

By a vote of 421-2, with 10 abstentions, South Africa’s Constitutional Assembly approved a new democratic constitution. Most sections of the new charter would take effect as soon as the Constitutional Court stipulated that the document embodied the principles set forth in the interim charter that had been in force since South Africa’s first all-race national election in April 1994. Among many other things, the constitution established a strong presidency, a two-house national legislature, and an independent judiciary. It also guaranteed free speech (so long as it was not "hate speech") and the right to restitution for land seized by the government under apartheid.

may 9

Canada protects gays

Canada’s House of Commons passed (153-76) an amendment to the federal Human Rights Act that prohibited discrimination against homosexuals who worked for the federal government or in institutions regulated by the government. After Prime Minister Jean Chrétien assured fellow members of the ruling Liberal Party that they were free to vote their convictions, 29 rejected the amendment. Impetus for a federal amendment came by way of the Supreme Court of Canada, which in 1995 had affirmed that the Human Rights Act implicitly protected homosexuals against discrimination. The fact that 7 of Canada’s 10 provinces had already passed laws forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was further evidence that the laws had wide support throughout the country.

The British House of Commons rejected (188-120) a bill that would have revoked laws banning homosexuals from serving in the military. Two days earlier a select committee in the House of Commons had issued a statement supporting a continuation of the ban, saying, "There has to be a balance between the rights of the individual and the needs of the whole." The committee also rejected as impractical the U.S. policy of "don’t ask, don’t tell" and the German approach, which limited the types of assignments given to homosexuals.

may 10

In an effort to prevent their forcible repatriation, thousands of Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong’s Whitehead detention camp rioted. Several dozen buildings and more than 50 cars were set ablaze, and 15 or more wardens were briefly taken hostage. During the confusion about 30 detainees were able to elude the police and escaped to freedom. The Hong Kong government had set the repatriation process in motion on orders from China, which demanded that all 18,000 boat people held in Hong Kong camps be sent home before the crown colony reverted to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997.

Australia curbs guns

Following the massacre in Tasmania of 35 people in late April, the national, state, and territorial governments of Australia agreed to outlaw the sale and possession of all automatic and semiautomatic weapons. The decision was reached during an emergency meeting called by Prime Minister John Howard, who labeled the new restrictions on guns "a signal to people all around the country that ours is not a gun culture." The opposition Labor Party also voiced its approval of the legislation, but some 70,000 disgruntled gun owners held a protest march in Melbourne on June 1.

may 11

Museveni wins election

Election officials in Uganda announced that Pres. Yoweri Museveni had won 74.2% of the popular vote in the no-party election held on May 9. It was the first presidential election since the country gained independence from Great Britain in 1962. Paul K. Ssemogerere, Museveni’s principal opponent, denounced the election as neither free nor fair. As evidence he cited the restrictions placed on political parties. He also charged that local officials had been bribed and voters intimidated by government-instigated violence. Even though political parties as such could not raise money, hold meetings, or conduct campaigns, outside observers were generally restrained in their criticism of the government, which had fostered a free-market economy with favourable results.

During an address to a joint session of the British Parliament, French Pres. Jacques Chirac encouraged the nation’s leaders to be more positive in evaluating the benefits that would accrue to the nation if they gave whole-hearted support to a tightly integrated European Union (EU). Reassuring those who claimed that Britain’s sovereignty had already been violated by the EU ban on exporting beef that might be contaminated by "mad cow" disease, Chirac pledged that Britain’s voice would be heard loud and clear once the nation had committed itself fully to a strongly united economic and monetary union. In a private meeting, Chirac and British Prime Minister John Major discussed the Channel Tunnel’s (Eurotunnel’s) financial problems and a proposal to form a joint arms-purchasing agency with Germany. Several days earlier France’s Matra Hachette SA and British Aerospace PLC had agreed to merge to form Europe’s largest manufacturer of guided weapons.

may 18

Prodi assumes office

The centre-left Olive Tree coalition took over the reins of government in Italy with the swearing in of Prime Minister Romano Prodi, a member of the Popular Party. His 20-member Cabinet included 9 members of the Party of the Democratic Front (PDS), which represented the largest group within the coalition. The PDS, however, was not given several influential posts that it had hoped to fill. Two former prime ministers were awarded Cabinet portfolios: Lamberto Dini, Prodi’s predecessor and a member of the Italian Renewal Party, was appointed foreign minister, and Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, an independent, was named head of the Treasury and Budget ministries.

Demirel escapes attack

A man identified as a Muslim extremist was tackled by bodyguards as he was about to fire a handgun at Turkish Pres. Suleyman Demirel. The incident occurred during a ceremony for the opening of a shopping mall in the town of Izmit. The gunman was apparently one of many Turkish Muslims who were incensed at the government for allowing Israeli military aircraft to conduct maneuvers in Turkish airspace. Demirel had also incurred the wrath of Muslims by refusing to transform Turkey into an Islamic state.

may 20

Iraq accepts oil deal

After repeatedly refusing to allow the UN to dictate the terms under which Iraq could export oil to finance the purchase of urgently needed food and medicine, Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein endorsed UN Security Council Resolution 986. It permitted Iraq to sell $2 billion worth of oil during an initial six-month period. During that time UN officials would carefully monitor the oil flow and verify that the food and medicine that had been purchased were reaching those most in need. One-third of the oil revenues would be deposited in an account to reimburse those who had been victimized during Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. At least $130 million worth of supplies would be earmarked for Kurds living in the northern part of the country. If the UN was satisfied with the way things were proceeding, Iraq would be allowed to sell $1 billion worth of oil during successive three-month periods.

may 22

Hackers worry Pentagon

Computer experts at the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) reported that hackers had attempted to invade computer files at the Defense Department about 250,000 times during 1995. About 65% of those attempts, principally using the Internet, had been successful. The GAO called attention to the potential for "catastrophic damage" unless the situation was seriously addressed and remedied. Jack L. Brock, Jr., who headed the investigation, warned that inadequate security opened the door for terrorists or enemy nations to wreak havoc with Pentagon communications.

may 23

UNHCR reports on CIS

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued a report on the migration of peoples who had been Soviet citizens before the breakup of the U.S.S.R. in 1991. An estimated 50 million-60 million people suddenly found themselves living outside their native republics in newly independent nations. The UNHCR described the situation in these new countries as "the largest, most complex, and potentially most destabilizing" phenomenon in Europe since the end of World War II. This was true despite the fact that the former Soviet republics had agreed to join together in a loose association called the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). During a meeting in Geneva at the end of May, representatives of some 80 countries discussed problems that had been created by forced migration within the CIS. A nonbinding program was approved urging each CIS nation to grant citizenship rights to former Soviet citizens living within its borders and to take steps to protect the rights of minority peoples.

may 24

SLORC tightens its grip

News sources reported that Myanmar’s (Burma’s) ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) had arrested more than 250 members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in an effort to disrupt its scheduled party conference at the home of its leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Undeterred by the fact that she had been under house arrest until July 1995, Suu Kyi began the conference on May 26, the sixth anniversary of the landmark 1990 national election. Only 18 delegates were allowed to attend the conference, but some 10,000 others gathered outside her home in a show of support. The NLD’s agenda included the drafting of a new constitution, which would invalidate SLORC’s seizure of power after the military declared the NLD’s overwhelming election victory in 1990 null and void.

may 25

King visits homeland

Responding to an invitation from a group of Bulgarian intellectuals wishing to discuss the future of their country, King Simeon II visited his homeland in the company of his wife. He was welcomed in Sofia, the capital, by an estimated half a million people, even though fewer than 20% of Bulgarians said that they would like to see the monarchy restored. Simeon was six years old when he ascended the throne in 1943 upon the death of his father. He had not lived in Bulgaria since 1946, when he and his mother fled the country to escape the Soviet army. Simeon, who had never abdicated the throne, made his living in Spain as a business consultant. Bulgaria’s socialist government characterized the king’s visit as an attempt to revive fascism.

may 26

Albania holds election

In a national election held to decide representation in Albania’s People’s Assembly, the Democratic Party of Albania (DPA) of Pres. Sali Berisha won 95 of the 115 seats filled by direct election. The results were generally welcomed by U.S. and Western European leaders because Pres. Berisha had enhanced stability in the Balkan region by persuading the large minority of Albanians who were living in Yugoslavia to soften their demand for autonomy. Nonetheless, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe did not hesitate to confirm the truth of charges leveled by Berisha’s political foes that ballots had been altered by DPA supporters and that voters had been intimidated by armed men who invaded polling places.

may 27

African mutiny quelled

French troops stationed in the Central African Republic were finally able to quell an uprising by mutinous soldiers. On May 18 rebellious soldiers had surrounded the presidential palace to give teeth to their demand for back pay. They also wanted to take back control of the national armoury from presidential guards who had been assigned that duty after the uprising on April 18. France helped resolve the latest crisis by providing back pay to soldiers as well as to teachers and civil servants who had gone on strike to demand their own overdue wages. In 1993 Ange-Félix Patassé had won the country’s first multiparty presidential election, but many inside and outside the country considered him an incompetent and corrupt leader.

may 28

McDougals, Tucker guilty

James and Susan McDougal and Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker were found guilty of fraud and conspiracy by a federal jury in Little Rock, Ark. All had previously been associated with President Clinton and his wife in business deals connected with the Whitewater affair. The defendants were convicted of having arranged fraudulent loads amounting to some $3 million through Capital Management Services and Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, a now-defunct institution in Arkansas that James McDougal had owned. Federal insurance carried by the two institutions allowed the losses to be repaid with tax revenues. James McDougal was convicted on 18 of the 19 counts against him. Susan McDougal, his ex-wife, was convicted on four counts and Tucker on two. All convicted said they would appeal the verdicts.

Bulgaria gets IMF loan

After satisfying itself that Bulgaria would adhere to the terms of an agreement designed to put the country on the road to economic recovery, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) authorized a $400 million standby loan. Among other things, Prime Minister Zhan Videnov agreed to shut down 64 unprofitable state-owned enterprises and to reform the banking system, which was responsible for millions of dollars in bad loans. Videnov’s Socialist Party had made only a token effort to adopt a free-market economy, but drastic changes were mandated under IMF guidelines. Tens of thousands of workers were expected to lose their jobs if broad reforms were instituted.

Ukraine leader replaced

Leonid Kuchma used his authority as president of Ukraine to name Pavlo Lazarenko prime minister. Before his promotion, he had been first deputy prime minister. Yevhen Marchuk had been removed as prime minister the previous day for "using all his energy to promote his own political image." Marchuk was viewed by many as a politician positioning himself for a run at the presidency in 1999.

may 29

Netanyahu defeats Peres

In a general election closely followed around the world, Benjamin Netanyahu, chairman of the Likud bloc, defeated Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres by the narrowest of margins. Official tallies showed that Netanyahu had captured 50.4% of the vote. Throughout the campaign his recurrent theme had been national security first and foremost. Analysts, accordingly, interpreted the election results as evidence that Israelis were more concerned about security than about an Arab-Israeli peace accord. In separate balloting for the 120-seat Knesset (parliament), both the ruling Labor Party and Likud lost seats. As a consequence, small parties were expected to have a larger voice in government than their absolute numbers warranted.

may 30

GM chooses Thailand

After surveying various sites in Southeast Asia and evaluating the advantages that each offered, the General Motors Corp. (GM) announced that it would build a major automobile assembly plant in Thailand. Smaller GM factories were already operating in India, Indonesia, and Taiwan. The company, which was the world’s largest manufacturer of cars, reportedly hoped that its new $750 million facility in Thailand would eventually help double its share of the Asian market, which currently stood at 5%. Thailand reportedly had supported its bid by offering to build a $15 million automobile training centre on the condition that employees of other automobile companies would be allowed to train there.

june

june 1

Gowda to lead India

With the swearing in of H.D. Deve Gowda as prime minister, India came under the rule of a new government. The 13-party United Front coalition, which included leftist and regional parties, was able to survive a confidence vote on June 12 when the Congress (I) Party decided to support the Front without joining the coalition. Congress officials, however, had first demanded that the new government continue to pursue the free-market reforms that had been initiated by former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. Gowda had no hesitation in making that pledge because he had earlier introduced similar policies in his home state of Karnataka. For the first time since India gained independence in 1947, the Cabinet was not dominated by Brahmins; most members, like Gowda himself, came from lower castes.

june 4

Bahrain jails suspects

The interior minister of Bahrain announced that 34 of the 44 persons arrested on June 3-4 had confessed to having conspired to overthrow the monarchy that ruled the tiny Persian Gulf emirate. On June 5 six men appeared on television and pleaded guilty to the charges against them. One said that he had worked with an Iranian official who reported directly to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s highest authority. These statements and alleged evidence that the Bahraini suspects had received terrorist training in both Iran and at bases run by the Hezbollah Party in Lebanon prompted Bahrain to downgrade its diplomatic relations with Iran. Iran denied any involvement in the alleged plot, which was purportedly aimed at establishing a Shi’ite Muslim regime favourable to Iran.

june 5

Medicare facing crisis

The six trustees overseeing the U.S. Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund reported that the fund would run a $53 billion deficit by the year 2001 unless changes were made in the program. Their study focused on Part A of Medicare, which relied primarily on payroll deductions to cover the cost of hospital stays. Part B, which paid for visits to doctors’ offices and certain other medical expenditures, was not an immediate financial concern. Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, one of the trustees, said that a short-term solution could be implemented immediately by cutting spending by $116 billion over six years. Such a step, he contended, would keep the program solvent until the year 2006. Those who reported on government affairs generally agreed that the Republican and Democratic members of Congress would resolve the problem through compromise, but not before the presidential election in November because neither party wanted to anger elderly voters by proposing cuts in their Medicare benefits.

june 10

Peace plan for Chechnya

A new accord aimed at ending the conflict between Chechen secessionists and the Russian government was signed by the Chechen chief of staff and the Russian nationalities minister. Under the terms of the agreement, elections in Chechnya would be postponed until September, after all Russian troops had been withdrawn from the area. The accord also called for the removal of roadblocks by July 7 and the disarmament of Chechen soldiers by August 7. Both sides also agreed that armament would not be used in battle. Previous cease-fire violations and recent skirmishes tempered expectations that the civil conflict had actually come to an end.

june 12

Church fires condemned

Speaking at the dedication of a new sanctuary at the Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greeleyville, S.C., President Clinton condemned the recent burning of numerous churches, mostly in the South and with predominantly African-American congregations. During the previous 18 months, more than 30 churches had been destroyed or badly damaged. In most cases arson was suspected. Authorities, unaware of any evidence indicating the existence of a national or regional conspiracy, were inclined to conclude that some of the fires had been set by copycats.

Election in Bangladesh

In national parliamentary elections, the opposition Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina Wazed, defeated the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) by capturing 146 seats; the BNP won 116. Because its representation in Parliament was short of an absolute majority, the Awami League invited the Jatiya Party, which finished third in the election with 32 seats, to join a coalition government. Its leader, former president Hossain Mohammed Ershad, was released from prison so he could occupy the seat he had won in the election. On June 23 Sheikh Hasina, who had played a major role in toppling Ershad’s military government in 1990, took the oath of office as prime minister. Her 19-member Cabinet included Abdus Samad Azad, who was given the post of foreign minister. Sheikh Hasina reserved the defense minister post for herself.

june 13

Racial districts voided

In two 5-4 decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment of the Constitution had been violated in the racial gerrymandering of four congressional districts. One case involved a black district in North Carolina; the other, three majority black and Hispanic districts in Texas. The court’s majority ruled that race had been too dominant a factor in the drawing of the boundaries of the districts. The justices had earlier declared that the consideration of race to promote the political influence of minorities could be defended only if it passed strict judicial scrutiny, a constitutional standard that required a compelling state interest in redressing specific racial discrimination.

Last Freemen surrender

After an 81-day standoff, the last 16 members of a group known as Freemen surrendered to authorities at a farm near Jordan, Mont. The 390-ha (960-ac) farm had been owned by Richard and Emmett Clark until the government issued a foreclosure notice in 1995 for nonpayment of taxes. The Freemen were bound together by their opposition to taxation and government interference in their lives. A crisis developed when two leaders of the Freemen were arrested on March 25 and charged with fraud and intimidation. In subsequent indictments the Freemen were accused of having defrauded banks, credit-card companies, and mail-order businesses of nearly $2 million. This was done by means of false checks and money orders. Many farmers in the area who had been sympathetic to the Freemen later criticized federal agents for not having used more aggressive tactics to end the stalemate sooner.

june 15

German workers protest

An estimated 350,000 workers held a rally in Bonn to protest the deep budget cuts that had been announced in April by German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. The leaders of the country’s largest labour unions had organized the demonstration in part because the government had announced the austerity measures without first reaching a negotiated compromise with the unions. In addition, the labour leaders contended that workers were being forced to bear the burden of the cuts while wealthy corporations were left comparatively unscathed. Kohl’s plan called for a $33 billion reduction in pensions, in payments during sick leave, and in other social programs. He had made the decision to implement the changes, he said, because Germany’s entry into the European Union was contingent on major reductions in the nation’s deficit.

june 17

U.K. revamps divorce laws

The British Parliament gave overwhelming approval (427-9) to basic reforms in the nation’s divorce laws. Beginning in 1999, the termination of all marriages would be so-called no-fault divorces granted solely on the grounds that the marriage had "irretrievably broken down." As a consequence, specific failings such as infidelity or alcoholism would no longer of themselves be considered justifiable grounds for granting a divorce. Moreover, divorces could not be initiated in the first year of marriage, and no divorce would be finalized until one year after the couple had separated. If children were involved, the waiting period would be 18 months or longer if suitable arrangements had not been made for their financial support.

ValuJet planes grounded

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told ValuJet Airlines to ground its entire fleet. An intensive investigation of the low-cost airline had been ordered after one of its planes crashed in Florida in May. All 110 persons aboard were killed. At the time, David Hinson, head of the FAA, and Federico Peña, secretary of transportation, contended that ValuJet was a safe carrier. On June 19, however, Hinson acknowledged that repairs on ValuJet aircraft had not been properly done, that repairs had not been documented, that planes with maintenance safety problems had taken off, and that FAA safety directives had been disregarded.

june 18

Report on Whitewater

After a 13-month investigation, the special U.S. Senate Whitewater Committee issued two reports, one by the majority Republican membership headed by Alfonse D’Amato, the other by the Democrats. At a news conference D’Amato summed up his position, saying, "History will judge these hearings as a revealing insight into the workings of an American presidency that misused its power, circumvented the limits of authority, and attempted to manipulate the truth." The report issued by the Democrats stated in part, "The American people deserve to know, and now can take comfort in knowing, that this yearlong investigation shows no misconduct or abuse of power by their president or first lady." The purpose of the probe was to determine, if possible, the relationship that existed between Bill and Hillary Clinton and the Whitewater Development Corp., a failed real-estate venture in the 1980s.

Yeltsin promotes Lebed

Two days after winning a slim plurality of votes in the first round of Russia’s presidential election, Boris Yeltsin appointed retired general Aleksandr Lebed to two high-level Kremlin posts. The former paratrooper had finished third in the voting. Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev received only 0.5%. On June 17 Yeltsin had delivered a televised address during which he appealed to followers of Lebed and two other defeated candidates to support him in the runoff election against Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communist Party, so that the nation would not "return to revolutions" but "move forward toward stability and prosperity."

Ulmanis wins reelection

In secret balloting, members of Latvia’s Saeima (parliament) granted Pres. Guntis Ulmanis another three-year term. Prime Minister Andris Skele and the members of several political parties had made public declarations supporting Ulmanis’s reelection. Ilga Kreituse, who held the post of chairwoman of Saeima, finished second in the voting with 25 votes, less than half the number received by Ulmanis. Five parliamentarians cast votes for Alfreds Rubiks, the imprisoned candidate of the Latvian Communist Party.

june 21

FBI files misused

Kenneth Starr, an independent counsel investigating firings in the White House travel office, received expanded authority from a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., to investigate the White House acquisition of hundreds of confidential files maintained by the FBI. Louis Freeh, director of the FBI, said that his agency had been victimized by the White House and that both the FBI and the White House were guilty of "egregious violations of privacy." He promised that no such thing would ever happen again while he headed the FBI. President Clinton claimed that the improper acquisition of the files was due to a bureaucratic mix-up. The initial request for the files had been made on a form letter bearing the name of Bernard Nussbaum, then White House counsel. On June 5 Nussbaum denied under oath that he had ever authorized the sending of the letter.

june 23

Arab League warns Israel

All 20 attending members of the Arab League--Iraq was not invited--concluded a two-day emergency meeting in Cairo with a warning to the new government in Israel that any attempt to stall or renege on agreements reached by the previous government would compel the Arab world to reevaluate the Middle East peace process. Yasir Arafat, president of the Palestine National Authority, also attended the meeting and played a prominent role in the discussions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed out of hand Arab demands that included, among other things, Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab lands and the establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.

june 25

Bomb kills U.S. soldiers

A massive truck-bomb explosion killed 19 U.S. servicemen stationed near the Saudi Arabian city of Az-Zahran. Several hundred other persons were injured. The bomb, apparently detonated by terrorists, left a 10.5-m (35-ft) crater on the perimeter of the military complex, where U.S., British, French, and Saudi military personnel were housed. Night guards at the complex became suspicious when a fuel truck pulled alongside the perimeter fence, which was just 32 m (35 yd) from the eight-story building. Before they could reach the vehicle, the driver jumped into a waiting car and was spirited away. Worried that such an attack might take place, the U.S. had petitioned Saudi authorities to move the fence farther away from the men’s living quarters, but the request was denied. In October 1983, 241 servicemen had been killed in Beirut, Lebanon, by a Shi’ite Muslim suicide bomber.

june 26

Court rules against VMI

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled (7-1) that the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), which was funded by the state of Virginia, violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution by refusing to accept female cadets. Unless it became private and received no funds from the state, VMI would have to end its 157-year-old tradition of training only males. The head of VMI called the ruling a "savage disappointment," especially since an alternative program had been set up for females at Mary Baldwin College, Staunton, Va. The court, however, concluded not only that the military education provided at Baldwin fell far short of that at VMI but that the state had not met the legal requirement of providing an "exceedingly persuasive justification" for excluding females.

june 27

Rape termed war crime

The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague indicted eight Bosnian Serb soldiers and policemen on charges of rape. It was the first time that rape had been officially identified as a war crime. According to people in the area, thousands of rapes had taken place during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of a campaign to brutalize and terrorize the population. The cases presented to the tribunal involved 14 Muslim women who allegedly had been beaten and gang-raped by Bosnian Serbs in the town of Foca in 1992 and 1993.

Gay marriages legalized

Iceland’s unicameral Althing (parliament) passed legislation legalizing civil marriages, but not church weddings, between homosexuals. The law allowed joint custody of existing children but did not permit gay couples to adopt children or attempt to have children through artificial insemination.

Klaus forms new coalition

Vaclav Klaus, prime minister of the Czech Republic and leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), heeded the request of Pres. Vaclav Havel and formed a minority government. Because the coalition government he headed had failed to win a majority in the May and June parliamentary elections, Klaus sought a new partner. The Social Democratic Party (CSSD) agreed to become a junior partner in a coalition government on the condition that no further steps would be taken to privatize the energy and transportation sectors of the economy. Milos Zeman, leader of the CSSD, became leader of Parliament.

june 28

New Ukrainian charter

At the urging of Pres. Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine’s national legislature approved a new constitution. It was the nation’s first new charter since it became independent of the Soviet Union in 1991. Although strong opposition was voiced by members of the Communist Party, the largest bloc in the legislature, the vote comfortably exceeded the two-thirds majority needed for ratification. Among other things, the new constitution confirmed the right to private property and free enterprise. It also declared that Ukrainian was the nation’s only official language, even though about 22% of the population considered Russian to be their first language.

june 29

Grímsson wins presidency

By capturing a plurality of 41% of the popular vote, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson easily defeated Pétur Hafstein in a race for the presidency of Iceland. Grímsson replaced Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, who had been exceptionally popular during her 16 years in office. Despite his victory, Grímsson was considered by some to be a left-wing extremist because he opposed Iceland’s membership in NATO and questioned the nation’s close ties to the U.S. By contrast, Hafstein, a Supreme Court judge, generally supported right-wing policies.

june 30

Mongolia’s MPRP ousted

In a dramatic reversal of the 1992 parliamentary elections, the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) was soundly defeated by the Democratic Union Coalition (DUC). Official results released by the election committee gave the MPRP only 25 seats in the Great Hural, a net loss of 45. The DUC--which included the National Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Party, and two smaller parties--had called for political reforms and faster implementation of more liberal economic policies. Before the election, there was a general consensus that the coalition could claim a moral victory if it managed to win one-third of the seats, which was sufficient to veto legislation. Shortly after the election, Mendsaihan Enhsaihan was named prime minister.

Fernández wins election

In a runoff election for the presidency of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández Renya of the Dominican Liberation Party defeated José Francisco Peña Gómez by garnering more than 51% of the popular vote. He was scheduled to formally replace 89-year-old Joaquín Balaguer, who had served seven nonconsecutive terms beginning in 1960, on August 16. Unlike past elections, which had often been marred by flagrant fraud, this election was praised for its integrity. During the campaign Fernández had welcomed the support of the National Patriotic Front, which had been formed by Balaguer and his longtime political rival Juan Bosch to undermine support for Peña. Fernández assured the electorate that he had not compromised his integrity by making any promises in exchange for such support. Peña, who was of Haitian descent, called the alliance racist, saying that it had been formed "to stop a man because of his colour, and because he is the son of the poorest sector of the country."